This Japanese Sports Car Beat Porsche at Half the Price

This Japanese sports car beat Porsche at half the price, recounts a pivotal shift in American sports-car buying in 1970 when European machines dominated the market. The Porsche 911 had by then become the benchmark for driving involvement, but its entry-level US model—the 911T—sold for $6,435 to $7,100, depending on options. The 911T was air-cooled, rear-engine, and engineered to a meticulous standard that justified its premium while delivering only modest straight-line speed. Its 2.2-liter flat-six produced 125 horsepower and 131 pound-feet of torque, with a 0-60 time of 9.5 seconds and a renowned sense of driver connection.